The Peace of God: A Prescription for Peace

“Don’t worry over anything whatever…” (Philippians 4:6)

In the fourth chapter of his letter to the Philippians, the Apostle Paul prescribed twelve conditions for what the Bible calls “the peace of God.” Those who have the Holy Spirit living in them must meet these twelve conditions if they want to live in this continuous state of peace. If you profess to be a follower of Christ and you don’t have this peace, maybe you didn’t know it’s based on these conditions?

The first of these conditions is: don’t worry. Paul doesn’t begin his conditions for peace this way because there is nothing to worry about. He prescribes this because worry is not productive. In fact, worry is counterproductive. Worry saps from us the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical strength we need to cope with our problems. If you examine Paul’s peace prescription carefully, you will discover that he tells us to replace our worry with something that is productive: prayer.

I once saw a sign that asked: “Why Pray When You Can Worry?” I had hitch-hiked from the East Coast to the West Coast of America to transfer to a Bible college in California and I only had $23.00 in my pocket. The godly old man who showed me the sign ran the employment office for the college and I desperately needed a job. He saw the worry in my face, pointed to the sign and asked, “Which one is it going to be, son?”

The bottom line: being anxious doesn’t solve our problems.

Dick Woodward, 19 May 2009

Editor’s Note: Facing challenges, however big or small, can cause worry to throttle our peace. Dick Woodward (my Papa) ascertained that the peace of God (which is a gift of the Holy Spirit) can be learned in his booklet “A Prescription for Peace.” When a disease of the spinal chord confined him to a wheelchair, then to a hospital bed, he memorized Philippians 4 and learned how to access the peace of Christ even when he was in pain 24/7. In the next few weeks, the blog-posting elf will share 12 conditions of peace from his booklet & series we posted on this blog back in 2009.

Be blessed & may the peace of Jesus Christ be with you, always!

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